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Anthony Aguilar

Mrs.Vanhill

AP. English

20 January 2018

Abortion

Abortion date’s back to 1800’s, when there was a higher mortality rate, due to the lack of

safe medical procedures, resources, and medicine. At first abortion was illegal, but in 1973, the

supreme case Roe v. Wade established rights for women who seek abortion, to be legal. Fighting

for the fact that women have the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies. Till then

many people have viewed abortion as a very controversial issue. People argue that the embryo

has a right to live, as others view that the government shouldn't tell women what to do with their

bodies, and that women have a choice. In regards to this debate, I believe that women have the

right to terminate a pregnancy.

In 2003 congress passed a ban on abortion, sparking a very controversial debate. This

debate has lead on to many individuals to speak up, in what they believe in, and many believed

that women have a choice whether to bring life into this world. Over throwing what congress had

put in place, making them repeal this ban. In the present time this issue still has people fighting

for the preservation of these rights. Stating that women have the decision to terminate their

pregnancy, without being discriminated. As I have researched that “pro-choice” is referring that

women
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holds the moral authority and right to choose life or death. “Pro-Life” states that by moral

authority abortion is wrong. I personally agree that women have the right to terminate their

pregnancy.

As of right now the United States has legalized abortion nationwide. There are some

states that believe abortion is wrong and have attempted to ban abortion. “State abortion

restrictions attempt to restrict and even ban abortion at the state level” ( Planned Parenthood 2).

This is actually allowed. The federal government has put in place laws that must be followed by

all 50 states. If a state’s government does not agree with the law, as a state they could either ban

it or replace this laws. Every state has state rights, which allows them to question the

government's power. The same with abortion, some states have made it difficult for women to

get an abortion, they cannot ban it, but they can put restrictions, and make it very difficult for

women to receive an abortion. With these restrictions that have been put into action they are

“denying women their right to make their own personal medical decisions” (Plan Parenthood 2).

Some of the restrictions that were put in placed are that, women are only allowed to terminate

her pregnancy in the first trimester. 43 states prohibit abortion, and will only allow it if a

woman’s health and life is being threatened by the pregnancy. Meaning that if the pregnancy is

causing life threatening risk, then the viable option is to terminate the pregnancy, in order to save

the mother.

Women have always had fewer rights. In all of history women were seen as having little

power, men are always the “leaders”, but when it comes to giving birth, women are the strongest,

carrying around a baby for nine months going through labor. Feminism supports abortion all the
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way, because it gives women power that they can finally have, without a man telling them what

to do. “Main-streamed feminists wanted the choice not to have children to be emancipated from

the constraints of the traditional female role.”( Tuhus Dubrow 3). Meaning that the traditional

female role is to have kids, stay home, and clean. If a female doesn't want to have a baby, she has

every right to do so, it's her body, she can do anything with it. Abortion isn't really the issue, “the

issue was not whether abortion was morally right or wrong; that was a matter of

individual ” ( Tuhus Dubrow 3). It really comes down to who has the right to decide what they

want. If we let our government decide whether a woman wants to bring a baby into this world,

then were letting them control us. When in reality we should let the people govern themselves.

Women have every right to abort a baby or not, it's their basic human right.

“ The right to choose to have an abortion is viewed as essential to ensuring that a women

has both the right to choose what happens to her own body, as well as the right to determine

when and if she wants to bear children” ( Denbow 4). If woman doesn't feel as if she is ready to

be a mom, she has the opportunity to not bear children. Scenarios have been played out in which

there is a relationship, and the women gets pregnant, but the baby’s father wants her to get an

abortion, but she wants to bring the baby to full term. “Her pregnancy exposes her to pressure

from both her partner and society, which can consequently serve to undermine her autonomy.” (

Denbow 4). Because of this society holds women who neglect their children at a higher standard,

than a neglectful father. They are both neglecting the child, they both need to be held at a high

standard. Also there isn't an abundance of government aid being provided for single mothers,

reflecting that the mother and her child is a burden on society.

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Abortion is usually about women having unplanned pregnancy, and she chooses to abort

it, if she wants. Another form of abortion is female infanticide. Female infanticide consists of

aborting the baby due to gender. Sex selective abortion is performed because of a predicted sex

of the fetus overall. “ Sex selective abortion is the systematic abortion of girls.” (Greaves 5).

Some cultures allow this just because it's a girl. It's like you want to have a baby, but if it's a girl

then you don't want it, that’s very crucial. “Asian countries, daughters are an economic burden,

while sons provide financial security and carry on the family name” ( Greaves 5). This is very

discriminatory towards women, and it's from the start of birth. The audacity that men have in life

to make woman feel inferiority to them is very derogatory. Both genders were created equal, and

we shouldn't be trying to prove that one is above the other, we should just be able to be in a

world where both are equal, and women have the right to terminate a pregnancy.

Many people may argue that abortion should be legal, others view differently. “ Pro-life

activism and beliefs have little to do with gender traditionalism” (Start 1). Meaning that people

are more invested in saving babies than worrying about if the parents are not traditional roles we

see in society. Pro-Life activist “also fight that every unborn female or male have an equal

dignity and right to life.” (Stark 1). Meaning that they have the right to live and grow up, but

however some may disagree because the baby itself hasn't even been born. They can't

comprehend what's going on, so the women that is pregnant has the right to terminate her

pregnancy. In a recent research done in 2017 by the Pew research Center, a poll was done to

determine how many adults in the United States believe that abortion should be legal, or illegal.

57% of adults believe that abortion should be legal, while 40% say it should be illegal. The
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reason that people view abortion and deem it as illegal because terminating a pregnancy is like

taking away a human life. Pro-Life argues that if a woman terminates her pregnancy, she should

be held accountable as if she broke the law, and killed someone.

I decided to conduct my personal research and I interviewed, my own mother to

determine where she stands on this issue. I asked her if she knows what an abortion is, she

responded with “when you end the life of your baby that still hasn't been born”. The next

question was to determine her stance in this ongoing debate, “do you think abortion should be

legal or illegal, and why”. She responded with “abortion should be illegal because a mother

should not have a decision in killing her baby” she also said “ if you get pregnat, it's because god

has a plan for your life, and by aborting your baby, you're dismissing and interfering with god's

plan”. She clearly stance for pro life, which it's totally fine, because everyone is allowed their

opinion. The last question I asked her was that “ what were to happen if someone is a victim of

rape, and she got pregnant by her rapist” she states that “Under this circumstance I believe that

the victim has every right to end her pregnancy due to this tragic trauma”. I concluded that my

mom is pro-life, but under the circumstance of rape, the victim should be allowed to terminate

her pregnancy. (Aguilar,S. 2018/6/2, Personal communication)

I wanted to talk on behalf of pro-choice, that every women has the right to terminate her

pregnancy if she wishes. The government should not tell you how to live your life, and most

importantly decide on personal medical decisions. I feel that religion has played a big factor in

shaming women for choosing to terminate unplanned pregnancy. In christianity many of the

followers live by the bible. The bible repeatedly states that human life starts in the womb of a
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women. Many of the follower take that in consideration, and shame woman for having abortions,

because it's like taking away life from a human. Another perspective is that victims of rape may

have been impregnated by the rapist. And many wouldn't feel a connection to the baby that's

growing inside of them, so they feel the need to abort it, because they know that they would just

be reminded of their past and what they have been through. In this case people have also agreed

with this point, that a woman should be allowed to terminate her pregnancy due to rape or incest.

After all women have the choice whether to bring their pregnancy to full term or terminate it

early.

In conclusion, many people argue that abortion should be illegal, and that fetuses have

dignity and the right to live, while others disagree and state that women have the right to keep a

baby or not. To this day abortion is still an issue that's debatable. But until then as of right now

it's legal to get an abortion and that's what really matters in the end. Women having the right to

make decisions that are personal about their bodies.

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Work Cited:

"Men, Misogyny, and Hypocrisy: Responding to Criticisms of Pro-Lifers' Gender, Motivations,

and Consistency When the Abortion Debate Is about You:." ​National Right to Life News​,

Sept. 2017, p. 6.

Parenthood, Planned. “Federal and State Bans and Restrictions on Abortion.” Planned

Parenthood Action Fund

Tuhus-Dubrow, Rebecca. "Designer Babies and the Pro-Choice Movement."

Dissent(00123846),​ vol. 54, no. 3, Summer 2007

Denbow, Jennifer. "Abortion: When Choice and Autonomy Conflict." ​Berkeley Journal of

Gender, Law & Justice,​ vol. 20, May 2005

Greaves, Jason C. "Sex-Selective Abortion in the U.S.: Does Roe V. Wade Protect Arbitrary

Gender Discrimination?." ​George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal,​ vol. 23,

no. 3, Summer 2013

Mitchell, Travis. “Public Opinion on Abortion.” ​Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life

Project,​ 7 July 2017,